And that particular SSMP:

Cyber warfare and misinformation propaganda is so much more effective than nuclear weapons.

Indeed we did. One thing HAS changed since the 1980s - launch costs have gone down dramatically, by a factor of 10. But as the trillion-dollar cost estimate shows, that is only a small fraction of the system cost. And AI, for example, doesn’t help solve the problem

Didn't we already go through all this with SDI/Star Wars 40 years ago?

And Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...

Other ways to hear the Burn Bag episode with Laura include Spotify: open.spotify.com/episode/5uVJ...

Deeply destabilizing: Any attempt to develop a complete defense against nuclear-armed missile attack provides a massive incentive for adversaries to expand their nuclear arsenal or otherwise develop alternative ways to attack the US and its allies. See, for example:

Wildly expensive: The US has already spent more than $400 billion on missile defenses over the decades, with shockingly little to show for it. With Golden Dome, which hopes to be a perfect defense against any missile defense, costs, skyrocket, to as much as $3.6 TRILLION:

Technically unrealistic: as experts and officials note, it is somewhat like hitting a bullet with a bullet, which sounds hard and is hard. But that ignores additional steps adversaries can take that make it even harder, including countermeasures, mass launches, and more. See:

And as Dr. Forté concludes: "These executive orders represent a continued attack on science by the Trump administration that has been well documented and opposed by UCS."

And as Dr. Beyea says, “The fact that there is uncertainty in risks at low doses is not a justification for claiming that the risk there is zero.”

But, as @nucsafetyucs.bsky.social says, "“There is no scientific basis for a change to the status quo, and President Trump’s attempt to force the NRC to abandon LNT is brazen political influence on science akin to the war on climate change mitigation, vaccines, and more.”